This isn’t the most substantive post I’ll ever write, but that’s what happens when you add real life distractions to a growing impatience towards a personal inability in finding a viable angle that makes 2013 draft prospects sound interesting in a way that doesn’t regurgitate the Twitter work being put in by the guys at BA and PG. I’m slowly beginning to realize that the general public cares only about the draft’s top 30ish or so names. I admit that this bummed me out for a few days, but I’m recommitted to being that one weird niche site that attempts to cover as much as the amateur game as possible.

Somehow all of that led to me thinking about the 2014 draft for the better part of the last week. All draft/college baseball fans know the name Carlos Rodon, the prohibitive favorite to go first overall in next year’s draft. He’s not quite as obvious a future number one pick as Stephen Strasburg or Bryce Harper once were, but I think Vegas would put him as a 50/50 shot against the entirety of the 2014 field. Knowing Rondon looms in 2014 could actually impact the 2013 draft. If it’s a coin flip between, say, Sean Manaea or Clint Frazier for the first pick this year, I wonder if the presence of Rodon and the near-certainty that Houston will finish with 2013’s worst record will have some within the Astros front office leaning towards a bat this June. Probably not, but stranger thought processes have borne fruit.

Early Front-Runners for Best in Class (2014)

North Carolina State LHP Carlos Rodon

Vanderbilt RHP Tyler Beede

San Diego State RHP Michael Cederoth

C Alex Jackson (Rancho Bernardo HS, California)

RHP Touki Toussaint (Coral Springs Christian HS, Florida)

SS/RHP Jacob Gatewood (Redwood HS, California)

SS/RHP Nick Gordon (Olympia HS, Florida)

The Rest

Unlike this year, college catching looks like a big potential strength in 2014, though it should be noted that the headline talent is a high school prospect. As we’ve come accustomed to in recent years, 1B appears particularly weak. If you want an early round 2B, look to the west. There’s not much to love as of now when it comes to shortstop depth, but, damn, any class with three potential top ten talents (Gatewood, Gordon, Turner) who look like good shots to stick at the position is alright with me. It is also possible that my opinion re: the lack of SS depth can be chalked up to my lack of familiarity with 2014 bats more than anything. 3B is poised to be a letdown after this year’s impressive class — same could be said for 2014’s group of HS catchers, a group that suffers only in comparison to an outstanding 2013 crop — but Chapman and Travis both look like early first round talents. For a variety of reasons, I think we’re seeing more and more tools-first, skills-second college prospects (think Austin Wilson) infiltrate the draft process. 2014 looks no different in that regard.

I should note that this list is far, far, far from comprehensive. There were dozens of names that I left off for a variety of reasons — I mostly tried to select guys who have balanced some degree of positive performance with impressive raw tools, straying only a handful of times — and I’m happy to explain any omissions if asked.

P

Clemson RHP Daniel Gossett

North Carolina RHP Benton Moss

North Carolina State RHP Logan Jernigan

Louisville RHP Nick Burdi

Notre Dame RHP Patrick Connaughton

LSU RHP Aaron Nola

Kentucky RHP Chandler Shepherd

Mississippi RHP Hawtin Buchanan

Mississippi RHP Chris Ellis

Auburn RHP Rocky McCord

Mississippi State RHP Brandon Woodruff

Mississippi State LHP Jacob Lindgren

Texas A&M RHP Gandy Stubblefield

Texas A&M RHP Corey Ray

TCU LHP Brandon Finnegan

Texas RHP Parker French

Arizona RHP Matthew Troupe

Oregon State RHP Dylan Davis

Loyola Marymount RHP Trevor Megill

Hawaii LHP Scott Squier

Portland LHP Travis Radke

Portland RHP Kody Watts

Rice RHP Jordan Stephens

East Carolina RHP Jeff Hoffman

Fresno State RHP Derick Velazquez

RHP Cameron Varga (Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy, Ohio)

LHP Carson Sands (North Florida Christian HS, Florida)

LHP Justus Sheffield (Tullahoma HS, Tennessee)

LHP Brady Aiken (Cathedral Catholic HS, California)

RHP Michael Kopech (Mount Pleasant HS, Texas)

RHP Ryan Castellani (Brophy Prep, Arizona)

RHP Derek Casey (Hanover HS, Virginia)

RHP Bryce Montes de Oca (Lawrence HS, Kansas)

C

Virginia Tech C Mark Zagunis

North Carolina State C Brett Austin

South Carolina C Grayson Greiner

Vanderbilt C Chris Harvey

Florida C Taylor Gushue

Arizona C Riley Moore

Indiana C Kyle Schwarber

Florida International C Aramis Garcia

Riley Jackson (Lexington Catholic HS, Kentucky)

Ryder Ryan (North Mecklenburg HS, North Carolina)

Handsome Monica (St. Paul’s HS, Louisiana)

1B

TCU 1B Kevin Cron

Wichita State 1B Casey Gillaspie

Ohio 1B Jake Madsen

Braxton Davidson

Justin Bellinger (St. Sebastian’s School, Massachusetts)

2B

Arizona 2B Trent Gilbert

UCLA 2B Kevin Kramer

Pepperdine 2B Austin Davidson

Bryson Brigman (Valley Christian HS, California)

3B

Maryland 3B KJ Hockaday

Indiana 3B Sam Travis

Cal State Fullerton 3B Matt Chapman

UC Irvine 3B Taylor Sparks

Southern Mississippi 3B Brad Roney

Wright State 3B Michael Timm

Drew Ward (Leedy HS, Oklahoma)*

Jack Flaherty (Harvard-Westlake HS, California)

Charlie Cody (Great Bridge HS, Virginia)

* Ward is a good bet to win his fight to gain eligibility for the 2013 MLB Draft. Until official word comes out, however, he remains a 2014 prospect.

16 Comments

Straight from my notes, here’s what I’ve got. Players listed in no particular order with 2012 stats given when applicable. All of the arms look particularly promising, especially Pitts, Clay, and Heddinger. You see the size of that trio and begin to see a pattern in how Georgia Tech recruits arms. Pitts is certainly making his mark early on, while Clay and Heddinger each have some things to work on. Spingola and Murray look like early front-runners for top bat in the 2014 GT class as both are up-the-middle guys with athleticism and enough in the way of carrying tools (speed and defense for Spingola, power for Murray) to help facilitate big sophomore year breakouts. Looks like Murray is well on his way with his blistering start to 2013.

Great site BTW…got a question. It looks like SS is pretty solid for 2014. How would you rank out of Jacob Gatewood, Trea Turner, Nick Gordon, Alex Bregman (I know he’s not a 2014 guy), Andy McGuire, if you could. Thanks!

You’re making my life difficult – that’s a really good group of prospects. For what it’s worth, I think only Gordon is a lock to stay at shortstop. The rest seem like good bets — though I think Gatewood seems likely to outgrow the middle infield sooner rather than later — but not sure things like Gordon appears to be. Even with the risk of moving off short, I’d rank them Turner, Bregman, Gatewood, Gordon, and McGuire.

True. Tools are still loud, but some doubt is beginning to creep in otherwise. I’m just glad I didn’t mention him as a front-runner as I had originally considered. Aaron Nola and Trea Turner should have been on that list, however. Dumb move by me.

Stone Garrett 2014 was outstanding at Marucci Memorial Day Pre Draft Showcase in Houston where he was one of the youngest player there with 2013 HS and college players. He ran a 6.5 in 60 and displayed high level hitting in BP and live pitching. Very high defensive skills.

Rob, I appreciate your response from my previous comment. I know you put in a lot of work on this site and I think it shows how thorough you try to be that you also take the time to read and respond to a lot of the comments.

Mike, about Stone Garrett, a showcase will mainly show what everyone already knows about Stone- that he has good tools. Real games can be a different story. His swing needs a ton of work and he put up pretty pedestrian numbers this season for someone considered to be a top prospect. I’m also a bit skeptical of the 6.5 60 time you claim. In any case, yes he does have tools and he could improve his stock again with a great senior campaign and some adjustments to his swing. But a few home runs in batting practice in a showcase does not change my opinion of him as of yet.

Kevin and Rob it looks like Stone Garrett had some pretty good summer numbers compared to the other highly ranked high school players that played in the top summer games and tournaments against a 2014 class with some of the best pitiching in recent history. Stone summer production: